I've got some rust spots on the base of my sports seats in the 328, but if this is my biggest problem in the world right now I reckon I'm doing pretty good.

When someone says 'first world problem', it generally means we consider ourselves spoilt and make an big deal out of a non-issue. What I meant was, however insignificant it may be, a problem still exists, and is something that BMW should be addressing.

But hey, as you said, everyone here must be doing pretty decent, considering we're on the internet complaining about a little rust in a portion of the seat that isnt really visible...

Maybe the rust happened during transit, so QC wont catch that situation.

That's true, it's possible that the rust set in during the 6 weeks or so the car spent at sea or on the docks (plus a few more weeks before delivery).

Quote:

Apparently BMW have owned up that the base was not rust proofed during manufacture, but will be From Nov 12 builds onwards

But by admitting that the base was not rust proofed is another quality control failure (and from that we can also assume the seat bases were previously rust proofed, eg. for E9x models and other series).

If the lack of rust proofing was the fault of the seat supplier, then BMW QC should have picked up on such a major change in component specifications (inadvertent or otherwise). Alternatively, if the lack of rust proofing was the result of a deliberate change in BMW design specifications, then such a change should only have been approved after rigorous testing by BMW (comfort, stress, durability, etc). Either way, it's a major failure by BMW.

Quality control is not limited to operation and visual aesthetics. It's also about comfort, build, ambience, performance, durability, etc.

That's true, it's possible that the rust set in during the 6 weeks or so the car spent at sea or on the docks (plus a few more weeks before delivery).

But by admitting that the base was not rust proofed is another quality control failure (and from that we can also assume the seat bases were previously rust proofed, eg. for E9x models and other series).

If the lack of rust proofing was the fault of the seat supplier, then BMW QC should have picked up on such a major change in component specifications (inadvertent or otherwise). Alternatively, if the lack of rust proofing was the result of a deliberate change in BMW design specifications, then such a change should only have been approved after rigorous testing by BMW (comfort, stress, durability, etc). Either way, it's a major failure by BMW.

Quality control is not limited to operation and visual aesthetics. It's also about comfort, build, ambience, performance, durability, etc.

They blame every friggin thing on the supplier.. and that was coming from head of customer support at their head office. clowns.